Organic coffee growing
Arabica is a type of coffee commonly grown in districts such as Lam Ha, Di Linh, Don Duong of Lam Dong province.
However, the land considered the paradise of Arabica coffee in Lam Dong is Cau Dat area of Xuan Truong commune, Da Lat city. Arabica coffee grown in Da Lat city with ideal climate, soil and altitude has created coffee quality that is highly appreciated by many people.
Organic coffee grown in Cau Dat area of Da Lat city is popular for its high quality and delicious flavor.
In Cau Dat area of Da Lat city, many people have had a long-term attachment to Arabica coffee.
Currently, many people are joining together to produce Arabica coffee in an organic way, without using chemical fertilizers but only using biological products. Although the method is difficult and the process is strict, local businesses buy it at a high price, so people are still very "loyal" to this way of growing coffee.
Present at the lush green Arabica coffee gardens in Phat Chi village, Xuan Truong commune, the reporter was led by Mr. Nguyen Xuan to visit his family's 2-hectare coffee garden.
Mr. Xuan said that his family is currently collaborating with a local business to grow 2 hectares of organic coffee. All the coffee harvested in Mr. Xuan's garden is 100% ripe, without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
Mr. Xuan picks coffee grown organically by his family.
“We partner with local businesses to follow their organic practices, so 100% of the coffee we harvest is ripe.
Harvesting 100% ripe fruit will cost the gardener a lot of work, but we get quality coffee and sell it at a higher price than the market.
Previously, with 2 hectares of my family picking both green and ripe fruit, it only cost about 100 - 120 million VND in labor. However, when harvesting 100% ripe fruit, the labor cost was up to 150 - 170 million VND.
With my 2 hectares of coffee, in previous years, when harvesting in bulk, both ripe and unripe fruits, I only got about 5 tons of beans. However, last year, I picked 100% of the ripe fruits and got nearly 7 tons of beans. The selling price to the company was about 100,000 - 120,000 VND/kg of coffee beans," Mr. Nguyen Xuan shared.
Cau Dat people's organic coffee is harvested with 100% ripe fruit, bringing high quality, so businesses buy at a higher price than the market.
Meanwhile, Mr. Le Van Phuong said that he is currently growing 3 hectares of Arabica, Moka and Yellow BourBon coffee. These types of coffee are also grown organically and in association with Cau Dat Bean Coffee Company.
At the end of 2023, the affiliated enterprise bought Yellow BourBon coffee at VND 25,000/kg fresh and bought Moka at VND 35,000/kg fresh. If harvested en masse, the price would only be about VND 23,000/kg. With the above area, in the 2023 crop year, Mr. Phuong's family harvested about 70 tons of fresh coffee.
Bringing Cau Dat coffee far and wide
According to the reporter, many coffee gardens of people in Cau Dat area are growing very strongly next to the forests. This is also the ideal condition for Arabica coffee to grow because of the cool temperature and suitable altitude.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan dries his organically grown coffee.
Directly present at the Arabica coffee gardens, Mr. Bui Xuan Thang, the owner of a joint venture that buys coffee from the people, said that in the past, many people in this area grew coffee but their lives could not develop due to fluctuating prices, low quality, and outdated care processes. Therefore, many people sold their land and gardens to move to other places to work.
Mr. Thang is the one who has linked up with local people to grow nearly 30 hectares of organic coffee in Cau Dat, Da Lat City.
Pulling up the Arabica coffee trees laden with fruit for the reporter to see, Mr. Thang said: "I used to do business in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2014, I decided to return to Cau Dat to buy a coffee garden.
Before that, I had planned and researched, learned about growing and cultivating coffee. However, when I came to practice, there were many problems that I could not solve. I stopped having to go to people's gardens to learn about cultivation and coffee.
When I came to Cau Dat to grow coffee, the coffee trees here were old and had lost their productivity. Therefore, I, my colleagues and the people made a plan to improve the varieties and treat pathogens in the soil to develop this potential coffee region.
At that time, we agreed to spend hundreds of millions of VND per hectare to treat the soil and seeds to grow coffee organically."
High-yield organically grown coffee in Cau Dat area, Da Lat city.
Mr. Thang also said that he is currently collaborating with many local households to grow and care for coffee organically on an area of nearly 30 hectares. All coffee is cared for without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides, but instead using microbial fertilizers and biological products. On average, each hectare of organic coffee produced by the people yields about 3-3.5 tons.
Thanks to organic farming methods, Arabica coffee from local people is purchased by Cau Dat Bean Coffee Company at a price of 100-120 thousand VND/kg of beans.
Most notably, the entire organic coffee area is 100% ripe, so Mr. Thang always buys fresh coffee from the associated people at a price higher than 3,000 VND/kg fresh. Up to now, after many years of perseverance with organic farming, Mr. Thang and the local people have produced about 180 tons of coffee beans, consumed in demanding markets such as the US, Japan, Korea, EU...
The soil is suitable and organically treated, so it is very good for coffee plants.
Because the coffee is grown organically, all of Mr. Thang's coffee and the people's coffee are contracted by partners for a price of 240 million VND/ton, this price is about 30% higher than traditional coffee products.
In the near future, Mr. Thang will continue to work with local people to expand the area of organic coffee cultivation to have enough output to supply the market. This is also the trend of coffee production in particular and agricultural products in general around the world, people need to approach and develop locally.
Source: https://danviet.vn/nong-dan-mot-xa-o-lam-dong-trong-ca-phe-kieu-gi-ma-ban-nhan-duoc-gia-hon-100000-dong-kg-20240510215615128.htm
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